1. Microsoft Reorganization Makes Sense for Giant, InfoWorld, 9/21
Microsoft is carrying out a major overhaul of its operations, halving its divisions from six to three and appointing a president to helm each unit. At the same time, the company raised the profile of Chief Technology Officer Ray Ozzie, additionally tasking him with overseeing the entire company’s services strategy. Some analysts suggested Ozzie, the creator of Lotus Notes and founder of Groove Networks, is being groomed to take over from Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates should the latter retire in 2010.

2. Ellison Looks to Double Oracle Revenue, CNET News.com, 9/21
Oracle’s head honcho plans to double his company’s size over the next few years from a $15 billion business to a $30 billion operation, fueled by some more major acquisitions. While Oracle is holding off making another PeopleSoft- or Siebel-sized buy for now to give the company time to digest those purchases, the software firm will do smaller, more niche deals signaled by its hoovering up of logistics specialist G-Log for its supply chain management business.

3. FCC Head: Hurricane Shows Need for Redundant Telecom, InfoWorld, 9/22
The chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission Kevin Martin said the communications chaos caused by Hurricane Katrina is positive proof that the United States needs more reliable telecom and broadcast systems. He called for the government to incorporate the Internet into the emergency warning system that has previously been carried on TV and radio stations. He also encouraged telecom providers to embrace Internet Protocol-based technologies to enhance their networks and he requested more radio frequency spectrum for emergency responders.

4. Microsoft, Qwest Team Up on VoIP, Network World, 9/20
Qwest became the first telecom to sign up with Microsoft to offer joint voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) services to small to midsize businesses. The pair expect to roll out their first offerings early in 2006. Combining VoIP with business applications is proving an interesting application of the technology, which has typically been used for consumers to make cheap phone calls over the Web.

5. Users Discuss Big VoIP Rollout Risks and Rewards, Network World, 9/20
One of the major challenges companies are finding in deploying a major VoIP project is the initial step prior to rollout of taking stock of their existing telecom infrastructure. That stocktaking exercise often throws up surprises in terms of how many phones a company has, and is key in determining the amount of VoIP bandwidth the organization is going to require in future, according to users.